Editorial revision 01/17 – The original article incorrectly stated 600 individuals had been served by Omni’s “upskilling,” whereas the correct number is nearly 6,000.
Grand Valley State University launched Omni in February 2024, an online extension of GVSU that aims to serve non-traditional students who may have additional time commitments.
The initial goal of Omni was to reach 50,000 students within five years of launch, yet the question remains of how many students are actually enrolled. The answer is murky.
Omni offers options for adult learners, high schoolers, transfer students and online learners to conveniently gain college credit transferable to various Omni locations across the state of Michigan. These locations include Grand Rapids, Allendale, Battle Creek, Detroit, Traverse City, Dowagiac, Jackson and Muskegon.
According to the University’s Omni webpage, Omni provides students at any stage of their journey with the flexibility of virtual learning with the additional structure, stability and support of physical campuses conveniently located across the state.
Despite the wide net cast by the program, enrollment numbers have been virtually impossible to locate or measure. The Lanthorn requested documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in November to see how many students are enrolled in the Omni program.
The official response, received Tuesday, Dec. 2, contained a bulleted summary in lieu of any actual records. The response does not provide any data or documentation on how many students within this range are currently completing a GVSU degree beyond the summary statement. This indicates that enrollment numbers, even from the University’s own standpoint, remain unclear.
“Omni supports nearly over 100 students currently completing a GVSU degree at one of our regional campuses conveniently located across the state,” states the first section of the FOIA.
The lack of specifics regarding information and communication related to Omni has been a distinct pattern. Other sections of the document are similarly unclear.
“GVSU Omni supports students – primarily working adults – who have stopped out from GVSU come back to finish their education,” states the document. “Thus far, 632 students have returned to GVSU and 80 have graduated.”
This excerpt details that Omni primarily supports working adults, but does not specify if the 632 students who have returned to GVSU and 80 who have graduated did so through Omni, just that Omni is the type of program that would benefit them. The Lanthorn received no information on if any of the 80 students who have returned to GVSU to graduate is accurate since 2024, the launch of Omni, or even did so through the program itself.
In other sections, the FOIA states over 600 high school students in Michigan were able to use Omni to gain college credit and nearly 6,000 individuals have been served in “upskilling” and “reskilling” through utilized portfolio on non-credit professional offerings at GVSU. Whether these offerings are available to all GVSU students compared to Omni students is not specified.
“GVSU Omni is home to the GVSU Career Center, which serves all 22,000 GVSU students and our nearly 150,000 GVSU alumni,” reads the FOIA response. “GVSU Omni is home to the Secchia Military and Veterans Resource Center, which supports 353 veteran students on campus.”
The Career Center is a resource available to all GVSU students, regardless of Omni affiliation. The Peter Secchia Military and Veterans Resource Center also supports students attending GVSU regardless of affiliations with Omni.
The Lanthorn also reached out to various Omni officials over winter break, including adult learning advisors to provide more context on the FOIA and goals of the program, but were only met with one response.
“We are thrilled that GVSU Omni continues to grow and serve learners as they seek to increase their skills, complete their degree and pursue their dreams from wherever they may live in Michigan,” said Kara Van Dam, vice president and chief executive of Omni.
The FOIA response also commented on additions to the program coming this semester.
“In partnership with the College of Computing, GVSU Omni is launching six fully online masters degrees and one graduate badge in high-demand computing fields in Winter 2026,” said the document.
